As an active duty veteran who is preparing to transition out of the
military, one of the hardest things to do is let a potential employer
know what you’re good at when, for the past 20 years, you have followed
suit and led as you were directed, based off the responsibilities that
the military had given you.
How do you determine your own strengths and aptitudes so you can
target companies and positions without wasting your time or becoming
counterproductive? This whole transition may feel as if you are starting
over from scratch.
The feeling of excitement that you made a commitment to start yet
another fresh career and retire from the service definitely will be
overwhelming in ways that you now don't really understand or
comprehend.
Where do you start? Who do you talk to? How do you prepare now? These are just a few thoughts you will have. It almost seems as if you need a full-time daily coach -- one that
can answer your most minute questions that you have been struggling
with for hours. You will search for answers, dialogue, and feedback from
any support channel that is within your grasp. In preparation of
finding these answers and the dialogue you search for, realize your
immediate expectations may become clouded.
Prepare for the unexpected and only expect minimal efforts from
those support channels. (Now, if you get more than expected, then
obviously that is wonderful.)
Here are some situations you may encounter with people or
organizations that say they are “veteran advocates” or “transitioning
experts” whether they be recruiters, resume experts, or support groups
with amazing assistance or free services.
These are some examples of
situations you may face:
-A quick, three- to five-minute conversation where you’re asked
for your name, number, and background information, most likely for
reporting purposes.
-While most agencies market free services, as soon as you're on the
phone with them, some may try to sell you a “special package” from $295
to $6,000 I wasn't prepared for the why this was really needed.
-Some so-called advocates may miss their own scheduled phone discussions with you and then not return the voice message call.
-You may not feel connected, understood, or valued.
-There maybe a lack of follow-up via phone messages, emails, or LinkedIn messages.
These situations, of course, happen in everyday life, but the
magnitude will be much greater when you are trying to do everything to
successfully transition to civilian life.
For 20 years, we have been labeled constantly as leaders behind
the military uniform. As you walk through the transition process, the
dream will start to become a reality. At the start of this process you
think you will maintain that title as you move forward with a new
civilian company and that there will be a laundry list of jobs to choose
from. Heck, our reasoning is, “They'll hire me because I'm a leader,
I'm trained, I train others, I've deployed, or I've served.” However,
only 1 percent of citizens has served and understands what serving is
about, so things likely won’t turn out as you imagine.
So how do you properly translate your military background for the
civilian workforce? The military positions you held do not mirror those
in the civilian sector. Titles are totally different, the terminology
you have grown up knowing and understanding is different from the
descriptions of civilian job responsibilities and pre-requisites.
Determining the differences between what you want to do in your career
versus what you are qualified to do is key before you even start to
refine your resume. Once you understand the new terminology, you can
build your resume on your experiences by accurately relating them to
what you are looking to do.
Have you started your own marketing plan? Marketing yourself is
key to acquiring a good job. Most job hires are through a referral,
which may be made through your marketing strategy.
Part of marketing yourself properly is searching within yourself
for what you actually want to do, and determining the correct career
fields and positions based off of that. Look at the training and
experience you have that will guide you on this path to making a great
new career choice. If you haven't taken the opportunity to do this, it
may seem as if you don't know where to properly start and or you are
spinning your wheels trying to find answers.
Remember that there is no exact conversion to your training and
experiences you've had in order to properly determine if a company's
position will be a fit for you. It's up to you to research the company
and the position to see if it's a fit and, if so, customize your resume
for each company to which you send it to have a better chance of getting
a phone call, interview, or discussion about your future career
opportunities. Yes, you will receive different opinions by countless
experts about what a resume should be and how to reflect everything
properly, some of which will contradict each other. This will cause
ample amounts of stress. Remember that most companies will probably not
give you any real feedback until you are only a few months away from
starting your retirement. Stay positive and continue to grind!
The first month after this monumental decision will feel like a
roller coaster ride, but stay strong and continue planning and preparing
for the success you desire. It will happen!
My eResume website can be viewed at:
www.justincodypearson.com
I will be available for relocation and career opportunities in March of 2017.
Success starts here! Let’s discover your potential~
Justin C. Pearson, Founder and CEO, Just in Success
#WECAN #WEWILL #WEBELIEVE